Singletree



W. LOUDEN.

(No Model.)

SINGLBTREE.

Patented June 23 ANDREW 5 GRAHAM. PHam umn wAsmmmm n5 the traces T fromslipping off the singletree.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WVILLIAM LOUDEN, OF FAIRFIELD, IO'VVA.

SINGLETREE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 562,547, dated June23, 1896.

Application filed March 18, 1393.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM LOUDEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fairfield, in the county of Jefferson and State of Iowa,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Singletrees, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The invention relates to sin gletrees wherein the harness-traces arebrought around the ends of the singletree and secured near the centerfor the purpose of taking up the traces and bringing the singletreeclose against the horse without shortening the traces; and it consistsin connecting together the traces thus carried around the singletree, soas to form practically a continuous trace and without attaching thetrace directly to the singletree.

It also consists in other details of construction hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 is a top or plan View of the invention, showing the upper partof the central eye broken away to show the connection of the traces.Fig. 2 is the same, showing the trace-connecting device secured to thedraft-rope. Fig. 3 is the same, showing the trace-connecting deviceadjustably secured to the draft-rope. Fig. 4 is a crosssection drawn 011the line 00 y in Fig. 1.

The singletree A is preferably curved to more perfectly fit the buttockof the horse, and is fitted at each end with keepers K K (as moreparticularly shown in Fig. 4) to hold It is also fitted with an eye K ator'near its center to connect the draft-rope R.

In the simplest form of the invention the traces T T, after being passedthrough the keepers K K, are joined together in any suitable manner, asby the link L, for instance, and passed through the eye K, so as topractically form one continuous trace surrounding the rear side of thesingletree. By this means the traces will have a shiftable c0nnectionwith the singletree and will be taken up or shortened the full length ofthe singletree, so that it will be held that much closer against thehorse, and will be less liable to drop down and strike the horses heels.

In case the traces should still be too long and not hold the singletreeclosely enough.

Serial No. 466,748. (No model.)

against the horse, the trace-connecting device may be set back on thedraft-rope B, so as to take up more of the traces and hold thesingletreemore closely against the horse, as shown in Fig. 2. In this case acasting O is secured to the rope R and is provided with hooks h h, bymeans of which the traces T T are connected together. By setting thecasting 0 farther back or forward on the rope R the traces will be takenup or let out to regulate their length and make them fit any sizedhorse.

A preferable form of an adjustable traceconnecting device is shown inFig. 3. A plate D, having hooks h h to connect the traces together, isfitted with a series of eyes 6 e 6, through which the draft-rope R ispassed, so as to bind the casting firmly on the rope and hold thesingletree at any desired distance from the casting. The rope Ris firstpassed through two eyes of the casting D, then through an eye E on thesingletree, then back through an eye in the casting D, and then underitself between the two eyes through which it was first passed, thusfirmly holding the trace-connectingdevice upon whatever part of the ropeit is placed and making it easily adjusted thereon.

I do not wish to confine myself to the exact construction herein shown,as a number of modifications may be made without depart ing from thespirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim is- 1. The combination of a singletree having keepers atits ends, and an eye at its center for the attachment of a draft-rope,harnesstraces passed through said keepers and along the rear of thesingletree, and a separate connecting device adapted to join the ends ofthe traces together independently of the singletree, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination of a singletree having keepers at its ends, and aneye at its center, a[draft-rope secured to said eye, harnesstracespassed through the keepers, and a connecting device secured to thedraft-rope and connecting the traces together, substantially as setforth.

3. The combination of a singletree having keepers at its ends, and aneye at its center, a draft-rope secured to said eye, harnesstracespassed through the keepers, and a connecting device adjustably securedto the draft-r0pe and connecting the traces together, substantially asset forth.

4. The combination of a singlet-ree having keepers at its ends and aneye at its center, harness-traces passed through said keepers, a platehaving a series of eyes and provided with hooks for connecting thetraces together, and a draft-rope passed through the eyes in said plate,and connected to the eye of the 10 sin gletree, substantially as setforth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM LOUDEN. Witnesses W. H. BLoss, A. M. LOUDEN.

